Charlie Knows
by MarieClaire88
Summary: After a disturbing walk through the woods with Nessie, Charlie learns the full truth about vampires. How will he react?
1. A Walk In The Woods

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Renesmee asked Charlie. Renesmee's voice was soft and quiet. She didn't speak when she could avoid it.

"Sure. Where would you like to walk." responded Charlie distractedly. He still flinched whenever Renesmee spoke. She was less than a year old, but was already fluid with words, an unnatural feat.

"Just around the forest would be nice." whispered Renesmee. "It's so beautiful out today."

"Well alright. But be warned, I'm much older than Carlisle. I'll probably be slower than him." huffed Charlie. It bothered him that he was so much older than Renesmee's other grandfather.

"You're not though." said Renesmee in response.

"I'm not what?" demanded Charlie

"Older than Carlisle."

"Well that's flattering, but I'm at least ten years older than your other grandfather. I'm over forty. I bet Carlisle can't be older than thirty-three."

Renesmee just laughed, which put Charlie on edge. What was so funny? Charlie didn't ask Renesmee however. He had a nagging suspicion that he didn't want to know. Renesmee grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet. She was surprisingly strong. Charlie was perfectly aware she wasn't a normal one year old- she looked seven or eight. But still, she had just pulled all his weight and he was pretty heavy. He shuddered and pulled on his coat. He handed Renesmee the coat she had brought with her when Bella dropped him off, but she waved it away.

"You'll freeze without your coat." Charlie nagged. "You're mother would kill me."

"I highly doubt I'd freeze. Momma says I'm like a fire I'm so hot. But I'll wear the coat if you want." Renesmee was not being sassy, or rude, she was just stating the facts. Renesmee pulled on the coat.

"Thank you for wearing the coat." Charlie responded feverently. When it came to her baby, Bella could be really intense.

Charlie and Renesmee stepped outside, the door banging shut behind them. No one bothered to lock the door. The people of Forks knew better than to break into the police chief's house.

Charlie and Renesmee began to walk, their feet crunching brittle fall leaves. At some point, Renesmee placed her warm hand in Charlie's. Charlie found that gesture very sweet, and he felt so much gratitude to Bella for bringing this wonderful girl into the world. Charlie and Renesmee walked for about ten minutes. Neither said much, but both enjoyed the other's company.

Ten minutes into the walk, however, something happened. At first it seemed like nothing, a trick of the mind. Something blurred by Charlie, scattering leaves in every direction. Charlie was about to write it off as a strange gust of wind, when a figure appeared before him. Apparently that _thing_ had caused the wind by running so fast.

The thing looked like a man, with long, thin white hair. But when Charlie looked closer, the man didn't quite look human. The man's eyes were a brilliant shade of red, and he was unnaturally pale. His posture was rigid, and his teeth were sharp. Charlie reflectively stepped in front of Renesmee, trying to protect her.

Renesmee had a different agenda. She stepped out from behind Charlie and walked towards the creature. "Stefan." she said, addressing it with a name. Renesmee's voice took on a colder twinge Charlie had never heard. "What are you doing here?" It was clear Renesmee knew Stefan.

"I want to talk to Carlisle." said the creature called Stefan. Stefan had a slight accent, which sounded vaguely Romanian.

"Where's Vladimir?" demanded Renesmee.

"He's hunting." The way Stefan said hunting sounded ominous, with a clear double meaning. Renesmee stepped closer to Charlie, as if trying to protect him. Charlie didn't see how the thin, small girl could defend him.

Stefan saw Renesmee's reaction, and his face softened. "It's only natural sweetheart. Your family can make their choices, but we can make ours."

Renesmee nodded, but did not step away from Charlie.

"How are you?" asked Stefan. "It's been almost a year." What had Renesmee and Stefan done together a year ago? Charlie had no idea.

"I'm good." said Renesmee. Her voice was kinder now. "What about you?"

"Terrible. But that's not new." it seemed like Stefan was setting something up. "Renesmee, what do you think of the Italians?" Realization dawned upon Renesmee's face.

"My opinion on that matter is neither here nor there." Renesmee's words were formal, not what would be expected of a seven-year old. "Besides, Carlisle lived with them for almost fifty years. I'm pretty sure he would be against taking action."

"Ahh of course. Perfect, diplomatic Carlisle. Wouldn't hurt a fly. Even if the Italians killed my whole family." Stefan seemed annoyed, but not angry. It seemed he got the answer he had expected. "Maybe Whitlock will join me. He can't resist a battle."

"I don't think so, and I advise you don't ask." Renesmee was beginning to scare Charlie. This wasn't how a child her age was supposed to act. "No one will take kindly to someone trying to split up our family."

"What are _you_ going to do you're not even a vampire." Charlie's heart raced. Everything about the Cullens was beginning to make sense.

"I'm not going to do anything. But there are nine of us and two of you. And you've proved your valor at running, but what about fighting."

"And you're any better? Carlisle constantly preaches about peace and understanding. Do you really think he could kill me?" spat Stefan.

"I don't know, and I'm not going to find out. Stefan, we're your allies. Stop trying to alienate everyone who cares about you. I'm sorry we won't help you, but that doesn't mean you have to hurt us." Charlie winced when she said 'allies.' What did the Cullens need allies for?

Stefan nodded at Renesmee's words, seeming more subdued. "You're right. I'm sorry. You can't stop me from fighting the Italians, but I can't force you to help me."

Suddenly, Renesmee began to cry. 'You'll just die. Jane will torture you and Aro will kill you. You'll be helpless against them. Even with us, you'd be destroyed." Charlie was still scared, but now he felt awkward too. As if he was intruding upon something.

"I know. Renesmee." said Stefan, touching her shoulder. Charlie felt a strong desire to slap the monster's hand off his granddaughter. "I've lived long enough. I may not make a difference, but I'm tired of running. I'm going to face my fears. I don't care if facing my fears involves death. It may have taken me fifteen hundred years to realize that, but I can see that now."

A tear slid down Renesmee's face. Charlie didn't comfort her. He was too scared to even touch her. What _was_ she? "Goodbye." said Renesmee softly. Everything was silent, until Renesmee burst out laughing. "You know," she said, half laughing, half crying, "I think this is the most I've ever heard you say without your brother."

Stefan half-smiled, and said in his strange accent "When I first met you I spoke of gorging out the eyes of the Volturi. Maybe now I'll finally have my chance." And white that as quickly as he had come he was gone. Renesmee was left alone with a terrified, shocked Charlie.

Charlie grabbed Renesmee's arm. "What are you?" he demanded. "What are you?"

Renesmee's eyes filled up with tears, and she said "I'm a half vampire." Charlie ran.

Renesmee sat alone in the forest outside Charlie's house. She knew not to follow him. He needed his time. She curled up on a log and waited for her parents to come find her. She knew that eventually they would be able to track her scent, but she hoped until then they wouldn't be too worried. Renesmee couldn't stop thinking about Charlie and how he ran. How her ran from _her._ She knew her mother would be even more upset. Bella would hate that her own father was afraid of her. Renesmee began to cry. Stefan and Vladimir were going to die, and her grandfather was afraid of her. This was a horrible day.

Charlie's pov

I can't believe my young granddaughter told me, with tears in her eyes, that she was a half vampire. And I can't believe that I actually believed her.

It's just that everything suddenly came together. The reason the Cullens never ate and the reason they were so cold. If the Cullens were vampires, it meant that Bella must be a vampire too. The Cullens wrecked my little girl. I felt bad for leaving Renesmee in the forest, but I had a feeling she could take care of herself. I just couldn't face her right now.

I didn't have a super hard time accepting that Jacob could turn into a wolf. It was strange, and beyond the realm of what I believed to be possible, but werewolves didn't hurt people. Vampires did. Vampires needed blood to survive, and by the way Stefan said 'hunting' I had a feeling that their primary food source was humans. If vampires killed humans, were the Cullens planning on killing me? In a way, they'd already killed Bella. I wish I had seen what was happening in time to stop it. Now my daughter was lost.

I sat shaking in my house, unable to move. What would happen when Bella came over to pick up Renesmee. What would I say to her? What would she do? Logically, I knew that I should leave my house so that she couldn't find me, but I remained rooted to my spot. I think part of me wanted to see my daughter. To confront her. To see if she was still my daughter. To ask her if she was happy. I had so many questions too. But did I really want answers?


	2. Charlie Knows!

Bella's pov

"Bella." said Alice somberly, looking up from her book, "Charlie knows."

"What?" I screamed. "When? How?" I was completely horrified. How could this have happened? Did Renesmee do anything? Was she okay? Millions of images of what could have happened swirled around my head, each more horrifying than the one before it. I tried to focus on Alice so that I could learn the full story, but my brain wouldn't cooperate. Finally, Alice put a hand on my shoulder, drawing me back to reality.

"They went on a walk. Charlie saw Stefan." Alice's voice trailed off after mentioning Stefan. Stefan was one of the most stereotypical vampires I had ever seen, with his Romanian accent and burgundy eyes. Charlie would have inevitably realized something.  
"Did Stefan try to hurt Charlie?" I demanded, my voice rising. Charlie wouldn't stand a chance against the ancient vampire, even with Renesmee…. Renesmee!

"Is Renesmee okay?" When Alice didn't answer immediately, I asked again. This time I spoke more forcefully, the words contorting in my mouth and coming out in a series of growls.

That got Alice's attention. "Yes!" she said quickly. "She's upset, but otherwise she's alright."

That calmed me down significantly, and I was able to focus enough to ask Alice exactly what had happened.

"Well," she said, "Charlie and Renesmee went for a walk in the woods. Stefan ran over to them."

I winced, not knowing where the story was going.

"Stefan told Renesmee that he was going to Italy, and he asked if any of us would come."

I hissed. How could he ask us to risk our lives on a suicide mission with him?

"Don't worry," Alice said, trying to reassure me, "Stefan gave up on that idea pretty quickly. Renesmee was really brave telling him off. I never thought I would see the day Stefan got a talking to from a six year old." Alice smiled at me, but I did not return the gesture.

"Keep talking."

"Okay, so Stefan finally gave up trying to get us as recruits. He gave a poetic speech about dying for what he believed, then he left." Alice rolled her eyes and took a deep breath before continuing. "Stefan had been throwing some hints around about vampires. He mentioned that Vladimir was 'hunting,' and he told Nessie that she wasn't a real vampire. Earlier that day Renesmee had mentioned that Carlisle was older than Charlie. I guess Charlie had finally had enough omissions and half truths, because he asked Renesmee what she was."

My lungs were tight even though I didn't technically need to breathe. "What did she say?" I already knew the answer, but I wanted to hear it out loud to be sure.

"The truth." said Alice, bowing her head. "Charlie ran away. He's hiding in his house now, and Renesmee is still in the forest."

I slumped on my armchair, putting my head into my hands, my hair sweeping the floor. I had been so convicted that Charlie would never learn the full truth. I didn't allow myself too much time for self pity though. There were some logistics to be discussed. I swallowed before speaking.

"Will he tell anyone?"

Alice's eyes glazed over for a few minutes. After what seemed like forever she shook her head. "No. He wouldn't do that to you. Besides, he knows no one would believe him. He's considering talking to Billy or Sue, but they already know so that wouldn't matter."

I nodded. That was a relief. I was still upset Charlie had ran, but at least he wouldn't put himself or us in more danger by telling anyone what he had learned.

"So what should we do?" I asked tentatively. The right thing to do would leave, and if that was what Charlie wanted, I would oblige. I wanted to say goodbye to him first though. I wanted to make sure he never wanted to see me again. To tell him I loved him. To tell him all of the things I hadn't been allowed to say before. I braced myself for Alice's answer.

"We should stay here. Charlie's not ready to see us yet, but I think he will want to eventually. With time he'll be able to accept this new information. And he has great friends like Sue to help him process what happened, and to answer his questions until he's ready." Alice looked me in the eye. "Everything will be okay. Now we need to get Renesmee. She's upset, and she thinks this is her fault. You go find her while I call Edward and explain what happened."

I immediately moved on from self pity. I needed to comfort my daughter. I forgot about being upset, and instead focused on her. I stood up and put shoes on, to busy to care that they were the awful strappy heels Alice had boughten me. I rushed out the door and ran, wind and leaves swirling behind me. My shoes dug into the frozen dirt, but much to my chagrin did not break. My unbuttoned sweater flapped behind me, but did not blow away. In under three minutes I was surrounded by trees in the forest outside my old home.

I sniffed the air, trying to locate Renesmee's scent. I could smell the damp leaves on the ground and the tangy smell of a couple deer off in the distance. Under those more prominent smells I could also smell the trail Charlie had left behind, as well as the stronger, sweeter scent of Renesmee. I could tell she was somewhere to my left.

I turned and ran half a mile in that direction. I ran even faster than I had before, determined to find my daughter as quickly as possible. Renesmee's scent grew stronger and stronger as I ran, and when I finally stopped, I could see her quivering figure off in the distance.

Renesmee's shoulders were shaking, and her hair hung over her face. I could tell she was crying. I walked up behind her, and slowly wrapped my arms around her thin waist. She turned into me, and I held her as she cried. "I'm so sorry," she bawled. "I shouldn't have asked Charlie to go on a walk. I shouldn't have told him the truth. This is all my fault." Renesmee sniffed, hot tears cascading down her face.

I shushed Renesmee, stroking her back. "It's not your fault." I murmured. "There's no way you could have known what was going to happen. You did everything right with Stefan. It's all going to be okay."

Renesmee didn't look convinced, but she stopped crying and stood up. "May we go home?" She begged, her voice shaking slightly.

"Of course Sweetie," I responded. "Here, I'll carry you." I picked Renesmee up and ran. As the trees flew by us, Renesmee's breathing slowed, and her chest stopped shaking. By the time we ran up towards the front steps of our cottage she was almost completely calm save for the occasional moan or hiccup. Edward stood on the top step waiting to greet us.

Without waiting to say anything, Edward pulled me and Renesmee into a tight embrace. We just stood there like that for several minutes.

Edward was the one who broke the silence. "Now we wait." He stated calmly. "This situation is out of our control, so there's no sense worrying."

Renesmee, who was still convinced that everything her fault, pressed her small palm to Edward's face. She wanted a second opinion. She wasn't satisfied with my reassurances.

After Renesmee was finished showing him what happened, like I had, Edward told her that this wasn't her fault. Edward worked his fingers through Renesmee's long curls, and he squeezed her shoulders. Though Renesmee still didn't believe what had happened with Charlie wasn't her fault, she let it go. She walked inside and picked up a book. I knew Renesmee would want to talk more about what had happened later, but for now I gave her her space.

I needed to talk to Edward privately. I wanted know what he thought we should do. I'd heard Alice's opinion, but I wanted to know his. But I also didn't want to leave Renesmee unsupervised in the house, and I knew no matter how many closed doors were between us she could still hear whatever I said. As if my wishes had been answered, at that moment Jacob rushed towards us.

"Is Nessie okay?" he demanded looking urgently at me.

"She's upset, but she'll be alright. Would you like to talk to her?" I hoped he would say yes, because it would give me an excuse to leave.

Jacob didn't even bother to respond. He brushed past me and marched into my house, not even bothering to remove his shoes. On any other occasion I would have been annoyed, but at the moment a muddy carpet was the least of my concern.

The second Jacob left I grabbed Edward's hand and pulled him away from the house. When we were out of Renesmee range of hearing, I finally asked him what he thought we should do.

His response surprised me. I had thought he would want to leave to be absolutely safe, but he agreed with Alice. Edward told me that from reading Charlie's thoughts, he knew that Charlie was too much like me to be scared off by a bunch of vampires. But more importantly, Charlie loved me. He loved me too much to let me go because I had "changed." If anyone else had told me this, I would have scoffed. But when Edward spoke, his eyes were pools of sincere molten gold, and his voice was soft and convincing. I couldn't help but to trust him, and after kissing him gently we walked home together. We would have to wait to see what would happen with Charlie. That's all we were able to do.

 **Sorry for any mistakes due to my self editing:) Please leave a review, I would make me really happy. Tell me what I'm doing right, and what I should do differently. Thanks for reading!**


End file.
